INCREASED CONCERN IS WELCOME

VICTIMS OF CRIME, often lost in the welter of concern focused on the person who committed the crime, are getting more attention in Florida.

The state's Bureau of Crimes Compensation and Victim Witness Services is loosening its purse strings, making it easier for victims of a wider variety of criminal acts to qualify for financial assistance.

More cash is being distributed because, within weeks, a federal law that provides 35 percent reimbursement for money spent during the previous fiscal year will take effect.

For Florida, that means an extra $1.4 million added to a kitty made up of funds provided by a 5 percent levy on felony and misdemeanor fines, plus a $20 surcharge.

One beneficiary of the more liberal guidelines, which also ease economic restrictions, is Suzanne Newell, a Hollywood resident who was stabbed 12 times and left for dead by a burglar a year ago.

Despite family advice that she was too middle class to qualify, she waded through the paperwork and collected $1,082. The money will be applied to the insurance deductible on a $23,000 medical bill and future plastic surgery.

The infusion of federal funds has enabled the bureau to add non-residents, abused minor children, innocent victims of drug and alcohol related accidents, and those suffering psychological problems as a result of criminal acts to the list of eligible recipients.

As more resources become available, stringent economic criteria that determine eligibility for assistance from the compensation fund will be liberalized.

There will never be enough money to erase the scars left by serious crime. But increasing concern for the victims is a welcome development.